Andrew Shepherd explores the complex issue of families seeking help for first episode psychosis, investigated by researchers in a recent family narrative study, which concludes that help seeking attempts are often derailed by complex family responses to illness.
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In her first Social Care Elf blog, Sarah Carr looks at an evaluation of the Time to Change anti-stigma campaign and discovers some new findings on discrimination against those living with mental health problems.
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Andrew Shepherd summarises a critical realist analysis that looks at experiences of stigma in people with bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder. He concludes that a profound social change in public and professional attitudes is necessary before mental health stigma can be effectively eradicated.
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Lisa Burscheidt reports on an RCT of the Headspace mental health literacy intervention and the impact it has on the mental health literacy, stigma, help-seeking and mental health of a group of young people in Australia.
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Dave Steele reports on a recent meta-analysis of mental health anti-stigma programs, which on the whole are found to be effective at reducing the stigma associated with mental disorders.
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Dave Steele reports on a recent observational case series published in the Lancet Psychiatry, which concludes that patients with mental illness are two and a half times more likely to be victims of homicide than the general population.
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John Baker reports on the first population based report of the positive effects of antipsychotic medication and mood stabilisers on reducing the risk of a conviction for violent crime, published in the Lancet in May.
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We elves are kept continually up to date with equality and diversity training, having had many centuries to build a society that rises above such petty differences, but we remain curious about the many aspects of stigma and its effects on humans. New avenues for research are constantly opening up, with studies continuing to highlight how [read the full story…]
Just over a decade ago, a research study of rural mental health services in the north Midlands of the UK, recognised the importance of community mental health services and workers operating in a sensitive, non-stigmatising way (Crawford and Brown, 2002). The study made the connection between mental health stigma and service use. The authors described mental health [read the full story…]
Imagine the following scenario: you have been feeling really down for quite a while and think the time has come to get some help. You book an appointment with your doctor and tell her how you’re feeling. She doesn’t make eye contact, she thrusts a leaflet and a prescription at you and tells you to [read the full story…]
